Nuisance & Nonsense

New Delhi, Dec. 8 -- lack of respect is

closure; lack of apology is

closure; & lack of care and

accountability is closure."

- Victoria Bell

The watchdog has lost its bark and sweets have blunted its teeth, making it lose its bite too. Not many moons ago, India's newsrooms smelled of ink, urgency and investigation. Journalism commanded fear and respect. Reporters dug out corruption in bureaucracy and corporate empires, exposing scams that shook governments and industries. Careers and freedom were risked to protect the truth. Farmers' struggles, laborers woes and public health were highlighted. There were star newspapers, where reporters melded fact-finding and context. Moderators in TV debates encouraged clarity, not chaos. The media was revered, it shaped opinion and influenced policy, providing a voice to the masses.

The moons have turned. The golden era has faded. Anchors rarely question with rigor and reporters compete for eyeballs, not verification. Newsrooms chase ratings, not responsibility. Once a platform for scrutiny, journalism has become a stage for sycophantic pageants. Headlines are crafted to shock, not inform. Analysis is sidelined, with speed and visibility dominating editorial priorities.

Take the coverage of the even big events and developments. Channels now choose to broadcast minor scuffles, looping images for hours to ensure created chaos. Anchors scream over one another, framing issues in binary terms: compliant citizens and voters versus angry protesters and political opponents. Little or no time is given to probe the nuanced socio-political impact of events, or the trends in the elections. Crores absorb a pre-scripted narrative of panic, anger and division instead of sensible debate, showing that journalism has metamorphosed from a civic guide to a circus joker's juggle.

Spectacle, Not Substance

Dead-centre in the theatre of media exaggeration sits our once-humble television. Anchors in leading channels treat coverage as a planned recital, complete with raucous shouting, dramatic footage and pre-ordained repetition. Minor events are shown as a crisis of national relevance and neighbourhood disputes as civilizational conflicts. Social media amplifies the narrative, viral clips reaching the masses faster than verified reports.

The rot manifested in 2016, when India's sarvagyaani media shared a shattering secret with a nation grappling with demonetisation; that GPS chips were embedded in the new Rs 2,000 notes. Even as India spluttered over the currency startle, Sushant Singh Rajput's 'murder' and girlfriend Rhea's pleas for her daily high ("Mujhe drugs doh, drugs doh, drugs doh") titillated the masses.

Things went south till Operation Sindoor saw India annex Lahore and blow Islamabad to smithereens. Today, as the dust of Pakistan's 'destruction' settles, NDTV's Prannoy and Radhika Roy have received a clean chit, nothing illegal being found by probe agencies. All the 'Breaking News' mentioned above has also been proved fictional. Big deal and balderdash to those who lost their life, reputation or livelihood. No correction. No apology. No repentance. Our Don Quixote media is too busy riding its donkey to its next 'Exclusive' windmill.

In 2019, for instance, students protested for better hostel facilities and a rollback of fee-hikes. Their pleas went unreported, with channels focusing on their slogans and 'underlying' intent, debating these for hours. 'Experts' commented on the incident as if it were a national crisis, ridiculing participants and framing the plot for spectacle, not context. The icing on the media's rotting cake was a question posed last week to visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking him to compare past and present Indian and global leaders. His answer was telling: "It is indecent of you to (even) ask this question."

Falsehoods & Divisiveness

Real issues have been sidelined. For one, public health coverage has been maimed. In 2021's dengue outbreaks in Maharashtra and Kerala, the media spoke only of hospital crowding and negligence, ignoring preventive measures and public awareness campaigns. Panic, rather than empowerment, became primary fare. With news prioritizing drama over service, people were left anxious and misinformed. Let's not even revisit COVID and the reportage around it: it was insensitive, inhuman.

The rise of the 'Breaking News' culture typifies this shift. Channels interrupt programs to offer updates that add little new information and only heighten tensions. Social media fuels the frenzy. Hashtags, trends and viral visuals substitute for investigative rigor, incentivizing output over depth. Even print journalism has been hit. Sensational news provoking outrage has replaced investigative pieces. Stories on legal disputes, celebrity behaviour or skirmishes in local communities are amplified with little or no context, pushing seriousness to the periphery.

A dangerous regression is the media's role in widening social divide. Coverage that fans religion, caste or regional tension flattens complex realities into stark binaries. Anchors focus on conflict over context and inflame societal faultlines. During the Delhi riots, channels aired inflammatory visuals and framed incidents in gross prolixity, deliberately creating moral outrage that neglected historical, political and social context. Coverage of the farmers' protests emphasized clashes with police, ignoring the distress and official negotiations. The discourse was framed around drama, not informed analysis.

Global parallels are striking. In the US too, cable networks reward engagement over accuracy. Europe has tabloids that sensationalize outrage and algorithms that amplify it. When media opts for spectacle, democracies are weakened. The people's trust in institutions declines, public discourse narrows and societies fracture under the weight of misinformation and emotional amplification.

Some Flickers of Hope

Thankfully, flickers of hope remain. Independent digital platforms and fact-checking initiatives are producing verified reporting and analysis. They correct narratives, highlight overlooked issues and provide context missing from mainstream coverage. Social media, wielded wisely, enables audiences to challenge false reporting and hold journalists accountable. Restoring integrity requires structural reform. Transparency, protection of media independence and support for investigative journalism-through subscriptions, grants and non-profit models-can reduce reliance on ratings-driven revenue.

Newsrooms need to step in too, applauding accurate reporting, depth and analysis, not just speed and drama. Ethical journalism must be valued culturally and financially. Here, media literacy is critical-audiences must develop the ability to recognize bias and distinguish between outrage and fact. Through engagement and critical evaluation, citizens can catalyse the return of integrity. In turn, journalists need to reclaim their purpose, choosing truth over theatrics, investigation over speculation and reporting over spectacle. The microphone is not a megaphone for anger, nor the camera a stage for bravado. The media must understand that credibility is society's asset, not its own.

Luckily, some media examples have survived. During scams and policy debates, a few still challenge bias and pursue inconvenient truths despite threats. This shows that the guts and gumption to restore credibility remain embedded; what's needed is institutional and cultural courage.

Story is Not Finished

Media transformation, from conscientious watchdog to theatrical performer, is a tale that resonates globally. Democracies are facing the peril of news commodified, outrage rewarded and truth rendered negotiable. Yet, the story is still not finished, and far from over. The truth may be in retreat, but it has not been annihilated. Journalists, audiences and reform can restore credibility and public trust.

The media can again inform, unite and safeguard, not just entertain or inflame. The stakes are massive: the cohesion of society, the possibility of reasoned discourse and the health of nations. Journalism can reclaim its conscience. In doing so, it can rebuild. Citizens and journalists together can demand reporting that enlightens, empowers and unites, safeguarding the world against drama, nuisance and nonsense. We do want to look our children in the eye when we are ready to go, don't we?

He can be reached on [e-mail]. Views expressed are personal. The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.